School Projects

Fun Projects

Monday, July 15, 2013

Capturing Caterpillars - First Attempt

The other day my kids found out that during my childhood one of my siblings found a Monarch Butterfly caterpillar and brought it home and eventually we all watched it hatch into a butterfly. They were fascinated by this story and immediately put "Hatch a Butterfly" on our Summer Fun list.

Today we went on our first expedition to find a Monarch Caterpillar. The infallible internet told me that this was a good time of year, but I was skeptical because I haven't seen any Monarch Butterflies floating around and if there are no adults then how can there be babies...? My children, happily naive, did not see this as a problem, so off we went to the meadow behind the tee-ball field where I had spotted large quantities of milkweed plants.

Ian entered into the search wholeheartedly.

Cam was a little skeptical, but he was stuck going wherever I did and he didn't complain much.

I've never really looked at a Milkweed flower before - they are actually rather pretty.

The girls weren't quite as excited. The weeds were over their heads and there were plenty of thistles and other weeds with pokey parts, but they managed alright.

Eventually it became clear that there were no caterpillars of the type we wanted anywhere in that field,

What Is Project Day?

Project Day started a few years ago when my sister and I and our kids needed a break from the monotony of winter days. Each week we'd get together and give the kids some sort of structured "project" to do before we let them play together while we drank coffee. The children loved it, and pretty soon I was searching everywhere so that I would have a good project every week, because as my niece pointed out, some projects just "weren't very good."
Since the official "project day" began, projects have taken over my life. In our house there are not chores, there are "Daddy's projects" and "Mommy's projects." There are "painting projects" and "garden projects." In some respects, I see my own life as "God's project." My kids are certainly a project! So, I thought I would share some of these projects (along with the helpful hints of my experience), and maybe motivate you to try a project too.